Install on a FritzBox 7360v2

Installing and Using OpenWrt
1

Hello everyone,

I am completely new to this topic, but I would like to learn more about it.

While cleaning out some old equipment, I found an old Fritz!Box. I was about to throw it away, but then I thought I would see what I could still do with it. Very quickly I came across OpenWrt and flashing routers.

I read through the instructions briefly and then decided to give it a try. In hindsight, I probably should have done more reading first. Unfortunately, there is no way back now, and the Fritz!Box can no longer be recovered using the official AVM recovery tool.

What I did:

I followed the installation guide. Since the router was still in its original state and had never been modified before, I assumed the kernel version would be compatible.


ftp 192.168.178.1
Connected to 192.168.178.1.
220 ADAM2 FTP Server ready
Name (192.168.178.1:unknown): adam2
331 Password required for adam2
Password:
230 User adam2 successfully logged in
Remote system type is AVM.
ftp> quote GETENV HWRevision
HWRevision 196
ftp> bin
200 Type set to BINARY
ftp> passiv
Passive mode on.
ftp> quote MEDIA FLSH
200 Media set to MEDIA_FLASH
ftp> put openwrt-25.12.4-lantiq-xrx200-avm_fritz7360-v2-initramfs-kernel.bin mtd1
local: openwrt-25.12.4-lantiq-xrx200-avm_fritz7360-v2-initramfs-kernel.bi remote: mtd1
227 Entering Passive Mode (192,168,178,1,12,15)
150 Opening BINARY data connection
226 Transfer complete
8324485 bytes sent in 16.39 secs (510.08 kbytes/s)
ftp> exit
221 Thank you for using the FTP service on ADAM

After flashing, I rebooted the router. The Power LED lights up briefly during startup, but afterwards only the Info LED stays on and flashes red.

The AVM recovery tool no longer works because it does not recognize the installed version as valid.

When I configure my PC to use DHCP, I do not receive an IP address, so it seems that the DHCP server is not running.

If I manually set my PC to:

  • IP address: 192.168.178.2
  • Gateway: 192.168.178.1

I can ping the router successfully, but I cannot access the web interface.

I can still connect via FTP and execute the FTP commands used during the flashing process.

I also connected the router to another Fritz!Box. Interestingly, the Fritz!Box 7360 seems to force the flashed router to use the IP address 192.168.178.1, even though the main router is already using that address.

Is there still any way to recover this router, or have I completely bricked it?

Thank you for any advice.

2

According to the wiki you flashed the wrong image. Instead of initramfs-kernel.bin it should have been squashfs-sysupgrade.bin. Although I would expect the initramfs version also to work.

Really? You tried one of the tools from here? AFAIK they don't care about the installed firmware, they only need the bootloader.

3

If you can still enter ADAM2 via ftp, you can just start all over again OR use AVM's recovery tool.

4

AVM's recovery tool almost always works, I've used it several times in the past. It is often a good idea to place a switch between the router and your notebook, this speeds up the discovery. Make sure to completely power off the device, run the recovery tool and only apply power to the router when advised.

For the sake of completeness, the recovery tool can be found here (go two directories up if your device is not from/for Germany):